Meaningful measures that help with decisions, planning and improvement - that’s what most leadership teams and governing boards want. Sounds simple, but in a world where data is growing at unimaginable, exponential rates, it easy to feel like you are drowning in data, yet lacking information. Big Data and Predictive Analytics can add to your data capabilities but by no means should they substitute for the fundamentals of measurement. These fundamentals include:

• Assuring that what you measure must be driven by your strategic and operational goals
• Carefully developing your measures with operational definitions and informed target-setting
• Incorporating both quantitative and qualitative measures, and both process and outcome measures
• Adhering to key design principles in constructing Balanced Scorecards and Dashboards
• Seeing measurement as evolutionary, where “placeholders” and refinement are useful, even necessary practices
• Realizing the wisdom that sometimes less is more; that it is more about selecting the right measures than it is about having a lot of measures
• Leveraging the cumulative knowledge available from analyzing multiple measures together
• Effectively and promptly acting on what you measure when you should (and knowing when you shouldn’t)

SCS has helped a wide variety of organizations get the most out of their current measures, and develop new ones. For a fresh perspective or detailed assistance, contact me at your convenience.